He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 117 Rain

The Foundation has never had a real "enemy" in Hallownest.

Even giant corporations can only barely counterbalance it by relying on their combined size—and this balance is based on the premise that the foundation is the absolute dominant party, so it can hardly be called hostile.

Over the past century, the transition from a council to a foundation has been initiated and implemented by the same people themselves—aside from the differing internal factions with their own ambiguous claims, no external force has yet emerged that can truly claim the position of "challenger."

All this authority, if viewed only superficially, is based on the monopoly of singularity technology.

The core, the Hume Tree, and the think tank determine the entire hive's dominance in the fields of energy, communication, and regulation. Their foundation, derived from the invisible realm, allows them to project their influence to every corner of the hive regardless of distance.

Even if there are temporary setbacks, given time, the foundation can rely on its strengths to resolve all problems. Every member of the foundation, even the lowest-ranking employee, possesses absolute confidence in the outside world.

After all, they are backed by the highest authority in Lordanda's Hallownest. Normally, the two factions are only divided into "The Foundation" and "Others." Any external force can be quantified into "numbers"—solving the problem? It's just a matter of how much of a price to pay.

There are two pieces of news, one good and one bad: the good news is that the fox's disguise has also infiltrated the foundation's organization. It was previously in a "martyr" state of being sealed off, but if it can return safely and cleanly, it will probably receive many benefits.

The bad news is: he is currently involved in a top-level anti-bandit operation.

He would play the biggest villain himself.

—Oh ho.

Watching the slow-moving but almost unwavering flame approaching her, Ai took a deep breath.

"What is the Advent Protocol?

Their gazes couldn't stray even a fraction from that direction; it was as if they were pointing guns at each other's foreheads. Ai Yi felt a little sweat on her back, but it was quickly dried by the invisible heat.

The standoff began the moment he saw the ball of fire. The fox had no doubt that if he shifted his attention even slightly, the thing that looked hostile would not be as "gentle" as it was now.

"【Advent Protocol】—One of the three supreme protocols of the Hume Tree, on par with the Amendment and Blockade—it's one of their most prized possessions."

The answer he received was gray. The next moment, memories surged from the red liquid, "It's not some kind of spatial teleportation you imagine, nor is it a teleportation at a distance—it's called 'Complete Manifestation: Spiritualized Mystic Projection.' See that ball of fire? It's the Mystic Incarnation shaped directly from the pool of liquid at a depth of less than 2 by the Hume Tree, a spiritual projection projected into the mortal world according to the Beacon."

"Get to the point." Ai narrowed her eyes. "Tell me how powerful that thing is."

"It's hard to say."

Gray wasn't keeping everyone in suspense. "A pure spirit formed from refined secret essence—even in its blank state, it's guaranteed to be comparable to the second stage. Of course, the Foundation isn't stupid; a second-stage being certainly can't solve the problem in a forbidden lair. So, be prepared for the worst."

Ai fell silent.

—Instead of considering space-based strikes as the "decisive solution," they inexplicably deployed a physical target deep within the suburbs, making it seem like they were simply providing the enemy with a target.

But he always felt that things weren't looking good.

—The Foundation isn't that kind-hearted—this only means that—this thing in front of us is probably even more dangerous than that beam of light that almost pierced through the gray curtain.

The next moment, the curled mechanical wings behind Ai slowly unfolded once more, flickering with a faint glow. Pre-compiled arcane structures were imprinted on these marks, rippling in the mysterious medium.

But its condition is clearly not good, or rather, it is not at its peak.

The miniature ritual inscriptions and secret circuits that were carved during this period for the symbiotic organ were almost all overloaded during the recent wave collision, and most of them haven't cooled down yet. As for the module part, it hasn't even started to be assembled yet, and currently only the spirit spines taken from the Foundation are available.

This limits the high-scale destructive power available.

—Damn it, that's not fair!

"I think you need to provide a reasonable halftime break. Releasing your troops to retaliate right after firing a shot is frankly meaningless, and I don't agree with it."

Facing the figure enveloped in flames, the fox spread its arms wide, and using its red liquid as a medium, whispered, making sure only the other could hear, "How about half an hour? We can discuss it if you think it's too long—"

However, it's clear that fairness is not a consideration when it comes to "bandit suppression." The fox certainly knows this, and he's just trying to find something to say to avoid an awkward situation.

He's quite afraid of awkward silences.

—Of course, there were other purposes as well.

Ai Yi pondered silently:

According to Gray's description, such a spirit projection is not a complete life structure—it clearly requires an "in-cabin pilot," just as flesh and blood need a soul to function.

—And if the driver answered his own question, it means that he had an independent consciousness in the medium of descent.

Could we refer to the process of defeating that snake?

"Watch out—" The light screen suddenly popped up in front of him.

But even the light's reminder came a little too late.

Before the nerve synapses can react, some kind of attack has already crossed the distance and descended from nowhere.

The surrounding air began to ripple. What was ignited first was not some physical entity, but something even more intangible. As the scorching ripples spread to a realm deeper than flesh and blood, a chilling sensation seemed to emerge from the top of one's head, accompanied by the word "danger."

The only thing that could keep up with the flames was the gray mist. The omnipresent gray enveloped Ai Yi in an instant, but then evaporated rapidly with a tooth-grinding "sizzle," becoming extremely thin within seconds.

The remaining gray fog used up its last bit of power to create a fog gate for Ai, sending him to safety.

—What the hell is this?!

The fox bristled instantly, its entire body enveloped in an inescapable "burning sensation," as if its bones had undergone cremation—not only its body, but even the surface of the vessel was faintly covered with a layer of charred glaze, the crimson red a vivid, scorched color, with countless wisps of ash detaching from the surface.

"He just tried to ignite your red liquid directly, and almost succeeded. The fire path is absolutely suppressed by mystery, and it's not growing properly. It's estimated to have a third stage."

Gray quickly concluded, "Oh, they projected a grand judge—I recognize him."

Ai took a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart and looked at the ball of fire not far below her—in the center of the calmly burning flames, a human figure was faintly visible.

"You say you're familiar with this thing, tell me how to solve it?"

"Well, actually we're not that close—I did kill one of the Grand Judges before, alive, so it wasn't too difficult, but the one in front of you is much more troublesome than the one I killed."

Hui Youyou said, "Spirit projection—literally as you can see, it doesn't even have a physical form, and of course, it doesn't have any physical weaknesses. It's even more monstrous than the snake you faced before. At least a living body would be worn down by a sufficient amount of force, but this guy—physical damage is completely ineffective, understand?"

"hehe----"

Ai used the fog gate to dodge the bone-corroding flames behind her, sneering, "Anything with a health bar can be killed. Just tell me his weakness."

"Weaknesses, huh?"

It was unusual that the gray memory resurfaced after several seconds; "It seems there really isn't any."

"Huh?" The fox was visibly taken aback.

"Spirit avatars are generally easy to kill if they have a high health bar—but the one in front of you is a bit special."

A tentacle extended from the gray creature beside him and pointed to the distant flame, "Look at his chest."

"

Ai narrowed his eyes, and the medium of light brought back this scene for him: in the very center of that turbid figure, a white flame, incongruous with the surrounding flames, was floating in the surging red spots, faintly pulsating, like a sacred platinum heart.

"What is that?"

Inspiration was foreshadowed: the "angle" occupied by that heart expanded continuously in his vision until he could almost hear the hoarse sound of burning flames, surging like a great tide—

Ai felt her heartbeat resonating with it in some way, like a homage to something great.

"5% - possibly more, probably over 10%."

Even through the medium of shared memories, Gray's voice held a somber tone: "You should know about the allocation of authority over the 'Core' in the post-Foundation era—they hold over 50% of the power in this singularity creation. Normally, to support the basic energy consumption of the entire hive, there isn't much surplus. Now, those temporarily left over will likely have to draw upon the original fixed quota—most likely all of it is here."

—? Ai tilted her head, her expression suddenly contorting.

"Tsk, that's it."

Even Hui seemed helpless. "To deal with you, they've put about 10% of their core power into that thing. To give you a better idea, the upper and lower cities together have over 200 million people. Normally, about half of the core's output is used for the basic production needs of these people—10% of the total power, that's roughly the basic energy ration for 40 million people? Normal energy and secret essence can't be directly compared; this is just an estimate."

Finally, he concluded: "Although his maximum output at one time is definitely not up to 10% of the core level due to the limited size of his spirit body, the total amount is here—if you can't suppress him in terms of mystery, he will always be at his peak. Of course, there is a limit. Once you enter the consumption phase, as long as you can kill this guy a thousand times in an hour, you can pretty much truly defeat him."

The third-stage Grand Inquisitor who ignores physical attacks.

One thousand times per hour.

"————" Ai's face visibly fell.

"Why the hell do I, a newbie, always end up fighting these kinds of things?"

The fox was clearly losing its composure. "Either it's an animated body, or a spirit projection, and an invincible, high-end version at that—it can ignore physical attacks at the drop of a hat, get burned to ashes and still rise from the ground, and now it's even immortal?!"

"Supermodel, right?! Do they think these 'legendary' tags are free?"

—My stamina is incredible!

Despite being completely overwhelmed by both numerical and mechanically-based attacks, Ai still had to force herself to think: "If—I unleashed an attack of that level just now, could I kill him in one go?"

He asked, and quickly received a reply, "Yes, after all, it's possible to touch a magnificent energy level—"

Upon hearing the accurate answer, Ai took a deep breath, her eyes showing little joy, only a deeper solemnity.

"It seems you've realized it too."

The gray creature murmured, "Even if you could take another shot, and this thing really did kill you instantly, it would definitely push the gray matter's capacity to its limit. Are you willing to bet that the Foundation will let this opportunity slip by?"

After annihilating the invaders, what's next?

—One more extermination order and they'll behave themselves.

And Ai closed her eyes at some point.

—Tsk.

He gave a wry smile.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the difference in size.

Ai had always known that if the Foundation was determined to eliminate him, it was simply a matter of how much they were willing to pay. His accumulation of power was still too shallow, both in terms of strength and influence.

Now, with such eagerness and a resolute rebellious attitude, trying to climb onto the round table to discuss matters with them, it will surely be fraught with difficulties.

"But I don't understand."

He pointed to the dome, to that eternally overlooking high place, the floating city of Mana, and the even higher upper city, "They clearly have the power to completely destroy me, yet they act like cats playing with their prey, offering hope while gradually compressing the space for movement—"

"A really boring performance," he commented, speaking softly.

"And now I understand it more or less."

—They wanted to teach me a lesson.

Ai's smile was cold and stiff. He slowly began to speak, "In their eyes, I'm like a rebellious junior, arrogantly challenging the authority on the throne—but my existence also gives them some expectation, some value. Perhaps it's the internal divisions within them that have taken effect. In any case—"

He paused, then murmured softly, "They tried to tame me, not destroy me."

The deathly silence melted away in the fire, while the cacophony of burning was everywhere and irritating.

Ai's gaze was as cold as ice.

"The first lesson the foundation wanted to teach me was compromise."

【compromise】

The next instant, Ai suddenly grinned and burst out laughing.

"Compromise—haha—hahahahaha!"

He laughed so hard he almost fell over, half his body slumped limply on the back of the gray mist, the pair of mechanical wings behind him curled up and trembling. "I thought before that, perhaps, between madmen, between us, we might have some things in common—"

"I've always wanted to ask them, you clearly possess the power to reshape everything, yet you still bind yourselves tightly in your cocoons like silkworms, severing your own paths outward and upward—Mingming, I still want to ask you why—"

"So that's how it is—"

-I see.

The compromise of dog poop.

When he raised his head again, his eyes were filled with an overwhelming, inescapable gloom, as well as a sense of frustration and loss that seemed to sink into the earth.

"Ha~" Ai Yi yawned.

It's utterly boring.

His eyes were still wet with tears from his maniacal laughter, the sticky tear stains making him look a little listless. But once that "luck" was completely baked away, the eyes that were revealed were like porcelain born from a cracked clay body, flowing with a flawless and beautiful blue.

"What a pity—" He shook his head and sighed softly, "I still had hope, and a sliver of expectation for the former king of this nest."

"But perhaps, until the very end, I will always be that one and only, the one and only sacred being."

Do you want me to submit to your weakness?

-dream.

Ai's tone was incredibly gentle at this moment, as if she had let go of all so-called "expectations" and, after receiving an answer, was giving birth to something faster, more joyful, and lighter from the shattered hope.

"Fine, let's leave it at that."

He tilted his head back slightly and slowly laid his palms out flat.

—From beginning to end, I should not have had any expectations of any outsiders.

"Let's look at something else—it should be novel to you too," he said, then looked at a countdown that was about to end.

"5 minutes remaining until sewage discharge."

The air became sticky, as if covered with a thick layer of moisture, damp and uncomfortable, giving off a creepy feeling.

Have you ever seen rain?

Ai faced the humanoid silhouette burning with flames.

"It's not sewage discharge like that, it's real rain—transparent rainwater falling from the thick clouds in the sky, a naturally formed weather phenomenon. Sometimes it's a drizzle, sometimes it can be a heavy downpour, and if you're outside, you'll get soaked to the bone."

He said softly, as if talking to himself, "Some people hate rain, but I quite like it—if I happen to wake up and the light coming in from outside the window looks dim because it's a cloudy day, like it's still night—if I just drift off to sleep like that, with the white noise in my ears, I'll feel a lightness of forgetting the world, a relaxation of not needing to think about anything."

But the rain in the nest has never given people this feeling before.

It's either a malfunctioning water and steam circulation system, or a malicious transport operation.

—Nothing good has happened.

"What a misfortune," Ai sighed. As the rustling sounds gradually descended from the height of the dome, his petite figure slowly disappeared into the dissolving colors, becoming blurred and indistinct.

"I'm telling you guys—"

The whispers of compassion were drowned out by the sound of rain.

In the cacophony of deathly silence, the Descendant slowly raised a hand.

Rainwater fell into his palm.

Strangely, it was not evaporated by the terrifying high temperature; instead, it became more and more turbid in the firelight, like viscous asphalt.

The rain was black, as black as sewage.

next moment.

The dirty rain poured down.